Forgotten memories
by Dark Daimond Dude
Summary: After SOIII ends. A new force is attacking the federation, and it's up to Fayt & Co to stop them! two OC's! FaytXFate Note, not named by me! also MariaXOC. Chapter two only will be in 1st PoV, the rest is 3rd PoV. MGLN shows up in later chapters.
1. Pain of humanity

Disclaimer: i do not own SOIII or the other anime that i borrowed a certain character from. However, I do own Trace Kudou Takamichi (although not with that exact name)

Everything was in chaos

Everything was in chaos. That's all that the young 6 year old silver haired human understood. He was running around the hallway in a panic as people rushed towards the escape pods, crying out for his mother through his many emphatic sobs. He saw her lying on the floor and ran towards her, shaking her trying to get her up. She looked up at him with eyes full of sorrow picking up her staff; it had a white handle, and a golden tip. She didn't say a word; she just shook her head and nodded her head towards the escape pods, where the soldiers were calling for everyone to board. The boy shook his head stubbornly, but a soldier ran up, grabbing the boy by the shoulders, gently leading him away.

"Don't worry sweetie, it'll be ok! You'll see! You've gotta get away now though!" the woman said, brushing off her white robes as another explosion rocked the ship. "After all, I'm the Flying Ace, right?"

The boy struggled against the soldier's secure gentle grip, trying to get back the maternal figure that he'd lived with for as long as he can remember, to no avail. "MAAAMAAA!!" he finally cried out, tears flowing freely down his cheeks. However, she just smiled sadly and shook her head shouting over her shoulder as she ran for the bridge.

"Live strong, Trace! Survive!"

That was the last image Trace saw as the door closed, and the soldier ushered him into the last escape pod, allowing the young boy to escape, just moments before the ship exploded in a dazzling flash of light and color.

--

Years later, Trace's grown up, and was napping in his room in the resort planet of Heldian II. Despite the fact that his guardian was absent, which wasn't that uncommon, seeing as how she was a worker in a public security sector on a planet some hundred light years away, he wasn't the least bit depressed or lonely. One thing he was though was bored out of his mind. Eventually, he stood up and wandered around the hotel, taking in the sights and whatnot. If he wanted to, he could've gone and played some games, but he wasn't really in the mood to play anything, opting instead to just wander around, thinking. Before he could really get into the rhythm though, he heard the telltale sounds of someone teleporting and reflexively reached to the wand that he was carrying on his back, turning around to face the newcomer. He stopped, his hands dropping back down to the pockets of his black pants, facing a blue haired girl wearing what looked like chest armor and bracers, as well as a long white half skirt and a black mini skirt over tights, standing imperiously, as though she thought that she was somehow better then him.

"Trace Kudou Takamichi, I presume?" she stated more then asked, her gaze traveling up and down his body as she examined him in great detail.

His silver hair was shoulder length, his eyes, one gold, the other silver, had a way of always looking like he was daydreaming, even when he was focused on something, and his forest green shirt was loose and somewhat flowing, the long sleeves stopping just short of his knuckles. His 'wand' as he called it, even though it was more like a staff, had a black grip that extended from his right shoulder to the bottom of his left knee, and the tip changed into a long silver half-moon shape.

"Yes that's me..." Trace answered cautiously, not too sure what she wanted from him, although he DID notice that she carried a gun on her back hip.

"Good, i need to talk to you." she dictated courtly, her tone implying that she wouldn't take no for an answer.

--

So there we go, the beginning. It will get better soon, don't worry.


	2. Meeting of Destiny Maybe

Disclaimer: i do not own SOIII or the other anime that i borrowed a certain characters from.

--

I sat on the bed in the blue haired girl's room on her spaceship, which she called the Diplo, which, if I remembered correctly, was the HQ of the group Quark. I could vaguely remember hearing something about Quark, but I hadn't paid it much mind because it didn't seem to be anything that I needed to worry about. I kept searching my memory though, not really paying the guard, much mind, other then to note that he was tall and blond and had three green lines on his neck. He was also wearing skin tight black leather clothes, to show off his physique most likely, but the reason why was lost on me.

"I see you've met the captain of our little organization," he said to me, trying to strike up a conversation. I wasn't really in the mood to talk, but decided that anything would be better then an uncomfortable silence.

"No, I didn't meet the captain, just some blue haired girl that acts like she's the queen of the galaxy."

"Oh, you mean Maria? She is the captain! You really shouldn't piss her off, she's REALLY scary when she's angry!" the guy said, making a terrified face.

"You seriously expect me to believe that a 19 year old girl is the leader of an organization like Quark, and that she has the loyalty of everyone within it? Isn't that stretching it a bit much?"

"You can say what you like, but I wouldn't get on her bad side if I were you kid," he said shaking his head with a grin. "The name's Cliff by the way. Cliff Fitter. What's yours?"

"You can call me Trace for all that it'll matter," I replied coldly, not really in the mood to say anything more, blocking Cliff out as he continued to bombard me with questions. Honestly, I just wished I had some good 21st century earth music to listen too, but before I could do much more I heard the door swish open and looked up as Maria stood in front of me, her hand on her hip, close to the handle of her gun.

"So Mr. Takamichi," she started pausing, as if she was considering how to continue.

After several minutes, Cliff shook his head with a laugh. "What happened to that talk that I heard you rehearsing earlier?" Maria silenced him with a death glare that effectively shut him up. "Shouldn't you just give him the same talk you gave Fayt?"

"His power isn't on the same wavelength as mine and Fayt's Cliff. If he gets too stressed, his power's bound to overflow. I don't know about you, but I'd rather NOT get blown up in orbit."

"Point taken."

I blinked curiously but decided not to ask questions, especially since I could feel my communicator vibrating in my pocket. I slid carefully to the side so that they wouldn't see it and opened it, surprised at the face that was peering back at me.

"Fate-chan! What's up? I havn't seen you in a while!" I said softly as Maria and Cliff continued their conversation, hopefully soft enough that Maria and Cliff wouldn't hear me.

"Hey Trace, how's it going?" she replied, smiling somewhat. "Are you enjoying your vacation? Or are you out with some of your friends from class?"

"Oh, neither. I'm just talking to some girl named Maria. Don't worry, I have my wand with me, so I should be able to take care of myself if I need to."

"I see…well, I did teach you well, so you should be able to handle yourself just fine. You havn't been having any more panic attacks, have you? You always have been somewhat exciteable."

"No! Geeze Fate, I'm not THAT exciteable!"

Fate smiled shaking her head, her blond hair swishing from side to side. "Anyway, I need to get back to work. I'd check on you for your guardian. Lately she's been really busy with this case..." she muttered, more to herself then to me, since she knew I wouldn't really get it. I sighed as she hung up realizing now that Maria and Cliff were talking about something called symbological genetics.

"Are you even sure that there's a fourth Symbological gene, Maria? Didn't Fayt's old man say that there were only three?"

Maria started to say something but stopped when she remembered that I was there. "Look, suffice it to say, from the information I've got on him, Mr. Takamichi here is even more exciteable then Fayt is."

"Symbological genetics..." I muttered, blanking out until I heard Maria speaking.

"You have heard of it right?" Maria asked, looking at me with those clear eyes again.

"Symbological genetics...I heard that there was a trio of kids that got powers thanks to symbological genetics, but I don't remember who they were," I said lazily, cleaning out my ears with my thumb. "There was this whole to-do about something somewhere that had to do with someone somehow attempting to destroy the whole galaxy as we know it," I added, as infuriatingly vague as I could.

I just wasn't interested in being completely cooperative.

"Hey hey, let's drop the serious conversation for awhile, this isn't getting us anywhere," Cliff interjected before Maria could shoot back a snide comment. "How about we just take a break, get something to eat, and calm down. We can continue this conversation after lunch."

"Well, I guess even you can have a good idea sometimes," Maria commented courtly before leaving.

"What do you mean sometimes?" Cliff called after her before shaking his head in amusement and departing, leaving me to my own devices.

"...What was that all about?" I couldn't help but wonder aloud, but followed anyway since there wasn't really much to do in the captain's room but look through her clothes.

Wandering around the hallways, I could see several of the people glancing at me in curiousity before they continued on their way.

"This is boring... I really should get back to Heldian II," I muttered after a few more minutes of wandering. I held my wand up in front of me vertically, the familiar blue glow surrounding me. Right at that moment, before I could unleash the spell and return to my hotel room in Heldian, my concentration shattered, someone smacking me hard in the back to get my attention.

"Cliff! Don't kill the kid, he just got here!" I heard a male voice groan plaintively, underscored by a laughing girl, behind me.

"Ah, come on! I didn't hit him that hard!" the unmistakeable voice of Cliff laughed in reply. I regarded the other two that I hadn't met yet over my shoulder, not really interested in speaking at that time.

The boy that had complained to Cliff had blue hair, like Maria's, except that his was closer to a blue-green, while hers leaned more towards sky blue. He was wearing a white vest with what appeared to be a brown bracer on his right elbow, and wearing blue plated mail gauntlets and similar plated mail leg armor, his sword strapped securely to his rear hip, the hilt within easy reach on his right side.

I couldn't help but stare at the girl a little though. Her raven black hair extended all the way to her lower back. Her eyes had the unmistakeable slit of a cats eye, and her red shirt did much to distract me as it seemed to hug her body like a second skin. Her orange skirt didn't distract me as much as the shirt, but for some reason what really seemed to hold my attention were her orange-with-black-stripes cat ears and tail. It wasn't until she broke out in laughter that I noticed the small fangs in her mouth.

It was my first time seeing a feline folk. By far.

Cliff started to introduce them to me, he stopped, all three of them looking behind me, and it was only then that I noticed the running sounds. Before I could move, I felt the cold steely sharp edge of a katana on my shoulder, inches from my throat.

"Pathetic worm. You're even more worthless then that brown haired maggot!" A voice, cold and calculating in its hatred, muttered darkly behind me. Unlike the others so far though, I had no desire to learn the owner's name. I drowned Cliff out as he introduced the man, Albel by name, although this time I did react in time to block a swipe of his claw with my wand.

I just sighed and walked away before Albel could begin to say something, finding the kitchen with ease from the scent and sat at a table, Cliff soon joining me with a huge piece of meat that looked like it came off a mammoth's chest. Although I had only been talking to him for a few minutes, I already had a fairly decent impression of the type of person he was. As such, I wasn't really that surprised that when the girls walked in, his gaze settled on a blond girl with a black vest and shirt and blue shorts. When I looked back at him, I vaguely saw him mouthing the word 'Mirage', and assumed that to be the girl's name.

"Cliff, I don't think her butt is that big!" I said out loud after a few seconds, a really deep red blush permeating my face, as well as pointedly look away, despite the fact that Cliff hadn't said anything of the sort. Cliff sputtered coughing out a large piece of half chewed meat as the girls turned to look at him with accusing looks of embarrassment and disgust.

"I didn't say anything of the sort!" Cliff shouted, glaring at me angrily.

"Shadowfang?" I inquired innocently, and the wand's decorative pearl flashed with each word.

"Damn! Mirage's butt is as large as a planet! She needs to drop a few pounds!" the wand repeated Cliff's comment in his voice, exactly.

Cliff's mouth dropped, since he had just said those words quietly to himself. "Y-You...wha!!" Cliff stammered, the blond haired girl grabbing his arm and leading him away to a hallway. I did well to hide my gaping shock when I realized that he really had just said that to himself, as Cliff's howl of agonizing pain echoed throughout the ship.

"Honestly, that Cliff really needs to think before he speaks!" I saw Maria say, shaking her head without a hint of emotion.

"He does have some good ideas at times though," a brown haired girl next to her said optimistically.

I tried to keep myself from flinching as Cliff continued to howl in pain.

--

another chapter done! I know, i know, Cliff might've been a little OOC, and so was Mirage, but I just couldn't resist the temptation! So now we have both OC's of mine introduced (Trace and the catgirl, who'se name has not been decided yet.). So, has anyone figured out where I got my other character from? I hope so! It's not exactly rocket science!

Good? Bad? Abyssmal? let me know!

Also, after this I'll be going back to writing in 3rd PoV. I just did it like this so that I could give a little more insight into the nature of my OC Trace. If you don't like it, don't worry, I will work with the other character's more.


	3. And so it begins

AutumnRain09: Thanks for you positive review, don't worry i will comment on your story, i just didn't have much time cuz i was supposed to be working on my final exam. I'll read it more in depth when i have time but it was good as far as i could see.

Disclaimer: i do not own Star Ocean TTEOT or MGLNS, and i'll personally hurt anyone that insinuates otherwise. All I own are Trace and the catgirl.

--

Fayt, the greenish blue haired boy (I can only assume that his hair is blue green cuz that's usually the color it seems to be, if you're attentive), lay back on his bed staring at the ceiling, his sword leaning against the nearby wall. He had been bored for quite a while, but the fact that there was someone new onboard promised at least a temporary break from the monotony. With a sigh of resignation, since he had an odd feeling about the new guy, he strapped on his sword before he went to look for him, remembering that he was supposed to be giving him a tour of the Diplo anyway. When he asked one of the crew members about him, she pointed him towards the training room, and he was surprised to see that just about everyone was just inside the door watching. "What's going on?" he asked Albel, who looked extremely bored, but was still paying marginal attention to what was inside.

"The new maggot's inside, worm," he answered with a snide smile before leaving losing interest.

"O...k..." Fayt muttered, not completely sure what had just happened. "So, what's going on Kara?" he wondered aloud directing his question to the catgirl.

"It appears that Trace's melee combat trainer teleported on board to give Trace a quick exam to see how he's faring," she replied, keeping her eyes inside. "She looks kind of familiar..." she added as an after thought.

Fayt peered in over Cliff's shoulder, (not an easy thing when the person's taller then you by a good 1.5-2 feet!) to see Trace and his trainer. His trainer looked really beautiful, with long blond hair to about her elbows, tied into a pony tail on each side. She wearing a white cloak about her shoulders, and her weapon looked somewhat like a scythe. It had a black head and tip, and the shaft was a gray color, but the blade was pure yellow, and it had an odd look about it, like it wasn't there, yet it was. Her dress was black, and had an official look about them.

"Trace, you sure have slipped since we last met," The girl said, blocking an overhead smash, then twisting her scythe around hard launching the wand hard to the side, not paying attention to where it landed and swung with her scythe, stopping it inches from Trace's neck. "Your good with your spells, but you've lost your touch in hand to hand. Or is there something on your mind?" She asked but stopped when she heard a groan turning to look at the audience they had. When she had tossed it, Trace's wand had smacked tip first right into the catgirl's forehead hard drawing blood.

"Are you ok?" Fate asked, running to her while Sophia cast Healing.

"I'll be fine, it didn't hurt that badly!" she insisted with a smile picking up the wand, handing it over to Trace as he walked over, kneeling next to her.

"You really need to learn how to fight Trace," Cliff Maria and Nel commented in unison, though Nel said 'Boy' instead of 'Trace'.

"Like I need you to tell me that," Trace returned indifferently, his gaze on the cat girl, before Fate's cough snapped him out of it. "Ah yes, allow me to introduce ourselves," Trace started clearing his throat. "My name is Trace Kudou Takamichi. This here is my teacher and my guardian's subordinate, Fate Testarossa Harlaown."

"It's nice to meet you," she added, bowing along with Trace.

"Kara Zastel."

"I'm Sophia Esteed."

"Maria Traydor, but you can call me Maria."

"The name's Cliff Fittir, and the dude with the blond and black hair is Albel Nox," he added pointing behind him.

"Mirage Koas, pleasure to meet you both."

"I'm Nel Zelpher."

Trace and Fate spun around at the same time weapons at the ready sensing a presence behind them, stunned to see a shirtless old man with grey hair looking back at them.

"The name's Adray Lasbard miss, and you are the most beautiful girl i've ever seen!" The old man said flexing his muscles, simultaneously horrifying and inspiring Fate and Trace. "Will you be my wife?"

"NO!" Fate shouted before Adray could finish his question, the glare she gave him clamping his big mouth shut.

"Fayt."

"Yes?" Fate asked turning to look at the boy curiously.

"N-N-No, that's my name, Fayt Leingod," he stuttered redfaced. The girl blinked curiously wondering why he was red but didn't ask. "I'll be happy to show you around, if you don't mind Miss Harlaown!" Fayt led her away talking about whatever came to mind.

"You need a tour Trace?" Maria and Kara asked at the same time, one looking a little annoyed, the other looking extremely irritated.

"Nah, I already know my way around," Trace commented, walking past, not missing the faces they had. "I'll be fine on my own, thanks." The others dispersed off to their own duties, or to just laze around until something interesting happened again.

--

"So, you live here Fayt?" Fate asked curiously sipping a milkshake in the cafeteria. Other then that pair though, there wasn't anyone else in the cafeteria beyond the crew member that had been assigned to janitor duty.

"Yeah, though it gets kind of old after a while," Fayt replied leaning back comfortably. "What do you do for a living Fate?"

"I work in a security force, based on the neutral planet Midchilda." Fayt looked up something piqueing his interest. Before he could say anything though, Maria's voice blared out on the intercom.

"Trace Takamichi, Fate Harlaown, Fayt Leingod, and Kara Zastel, you're wanted on the bridge to assist in a mission."

When Fayt and Fate got up on the bridge, they saw Trace leaning against a wall, his head bowed as if he was asleep, while Kara was trying to tame the wild fur on her tail with a brush.

"What's up? You got any idea what this mission we're going on is?" Fate asked Trace while Fayt directed the same question to Kara.

"You're gonna participate Fate?" Trace and Kara couldn't help but ask eyes slightly wide.

"Well, I'm on vacation right now, and it's not like i have anything else to do anyway. Besides, I want to make sure you don't get killed Trace. With the performance I saw earlier..."

"I was just distracted that time! I won't lose to you next time Fate!" Trace growled angrily.

"Bring it on Trace!" both Fates challenged at the same time.

"...This is gonna get confusing..." Trace and Kara muttered in unison as Maria walked up.

"The queen of Aquaria has requested our assistance. It seems that some machines are after the Holy Sphere in the Shrine of Kaddan. Their forces can hold for now, but you four are to go and assist in securing it. Understand?" She looked at the them before noticing someone was missing. "Where'd Trace go?"

"He left in the middle of your explanation to catch some sleep and prepare his stuff before we reach our destination," Fate said with a yawn stretching lazily.

"Fine, we'll be orbiting Elicoor II in about two hours, so get some rest until then," Maria ordered as Fate and the rest moved to follow Trace's example.

--Approximately 30 minutes from Elicoor II--

"What are those things you're messing with Trace?" Kara wondered staring at the small round cases that Trace slipped one by one into his weapons core.

"Those are cartridges, Kara," Fate supplied, putting similar cartridges in a pouch strapped to her shoulder belt.

"What kind of technology is this?" Fayt wondered, holding up one of the cartridges. It was hollow and small, and it didn't feel like there was anything contained in it at all. Trace snatched it back slipping it into the core before he closed the opening in his wand putting it away.

"It's the Velkian cartridge system. It stores magic for us to use later if we need it," he explained before leaving for the teleporters.

Once they neared Elicoor Fayt and the others got in the transporter beside Trace, Maria getting on as well at the last moment as the teleported in front of the royal palace in Aquios.

"Now, how do we get to the Shrine of Kaddan?" Trace wondered staring at Kara incredulously as she bit at and tried to catch a fairy. Fortunately, the fairy was floating just beyond her reach.

"We need to go through the royal palace to get there, uh..." Fayt muttered staring at Kara as well.

"Should we wait behind for you and Kara Trace, or just go on ahead?" Fate asked, all business.

"Eh, you go ahead, Kara and I'll catch up," Trace replied, apparently entranced by Kara's constant jumping and bouncing. The Fates looked at him knowingly before running off for the Palace and the Shrine of Kaddan, while Maria stayed behind to lead them there.

"Are you sure that he'll be fine?" Fayt couldn't help but ask, glancing over to Fate. "He doesn't look like a very capable fighter!"

"Don't worry about him! He'll be fine!" Fate replied honestly, giving a reassuring smile.

--

"I can't believe you can spend 4 hours trying to catch a fairy! Leingod and Harlaown have probably secured the sphere by now!" Trace shouted crossly, glaring at Kara.

"I couldn't help myself! It just reminded me of a butterfly!"

"Save your chatter for later!" Maria shouted back to them crossly, leading them under the levitating stone blocks before they could get crushed. "Now's not the time for that!!" She yelped dodging an axe crash, Trace and Kara getting thrown from their feet by the vibrations. The mechanized monster readied itself for another strike, but Maria's quick shot blew its wrists off. Kara finished the job with a stab of her spear to the robot's chest, the impact resounding throughout the entire complex like a dull thunderclap.

--

"What the hell are these things?!" Fayt shouted, whipping his sword around to fend off the attack of the mechanized monsters that were attacking. They were shaped innocently like super large spheres with a cluster of five circles for the 'face'; each circle though had a tentacle inside, and Fayt was having a hard time fending off twenty tentacles striking and lashing from all sides. Fate was similarly pressed, having to use her scythe to block and deflect oncoming attacks.

Fayt managed to find enough of an opening to jump back from the press, chanting to use a 'Stone Rain' attack, but nothing happened when he unleashed it. "What the-!?" he somehow shouted before he got a tentacle slap hard across his chest blasting him aside. Fortunately, Fate was there to cover him before the thing could follow through with its attack, slicing her scythe through its body lengthwise, splittingit in half evenly before it exploded. Unfortunately, she also took more then a few hits for her daring rescue.

"Don't use magic! These things have an AMF! Focus on physical attacks Fayt," Fate commanded with authority, striking down a few more, their dying explosions causing a chain reaction that took down more then a few of the enemies. Fate still had to wonder if she and Fayt would get out of it ok, or even alive, when she risked a glance behind her, the corridor filling fast with the spheres and floating capsule like machines as well.

"I don't think we can survive," Fayt muttered, standing back to back with Fate, who was thinking similar thoughts.

"Then we'll just have to take down as many of them as we can before we fall then!" Fate said determined not to fall until she had made their foes regret their choice for targets. She and Fayt waited for several minutes for the spheres to start their attack, but they just surrounded them, staying a respectful distance away.

Before either Fayt could question it, they heard a loud commotion from behind both enemy lines and several shouts: "Cut through! We've gotta get through to the others!" Fayt thought he recognized the voice, but didn't pay it much mind him and Fate launching into action with a burst. Unfortunately, the pair almost immediately got into a deadlock, though neither shouted for assitance; they couldn't find the time to shape the words.

After several minutes of hard fighting, Fayt and Fate both noticed that the press lightened unexpectedly, giving the pair time to jump back setting their backs firmly against each other.

"What's going on!?" Fayt shouted before several shouts from past the lines answered that question.

"Flying Guillotine!"

"Dust to dust!"

"Slice through, Blaze Strike!"

"Strike true, Heaven Fang!"

Fate watched in shock watching a pair of thrown blades cutting through the monsters with impunity before returning to the hands of Nel Zelpher.

Unfortunately, Fayt had to block and parry blows as lasers, blasts of light, and blades of flame struck around him, beating down several enemies. The last group, unfortunately managed to slip past Nel Zelpher and the defenders, roaring down the halls towards the sacred orb, as though mocking their attempts. Fate Nel and the others raced on after them, but Fayt couldn't help but stare at his unlikely rescuers.

--

"When did you get here?" Fate asked after that last battle with the mecha. She rested the large blade of her Bardiche Zanber on her shoulder as Clair downed the last one with a well placed katana thrust.

"As soon as I got word of course. Above all else, my mission is to protect Aquaria and its Sacred Orb. These trespassers didn't have a chance."

Fate looked around the battlefield, at the torn and blasted bodies of human and machine alike, and had to question whether anything was worth more then so many lives, but didn't speak a word of it.

She turned with a smile as she faced Fayt Maria Kara and Trace. "Glad to see you caught up!" Fate started to say something more, but an earthquake knocked the words out of her mouth, dropping her and everyone that was standing to the floor. Nel sat up a feeling of dread falling over every fiber of her being.

"They couldn't have-!!" she shouted running for the sacred chamber.

The others tried to keep pace, but Nel outdistanced them by far. When they finally reached that room, they were stunned by what they saw; a huge hole in the ceiling, and in the watery pedestal where it had once sat, there was nothing but an empty distraught mummer.


	4. retrieve the Orb! BURST!

Ghaa, sorry for taking so long to update, been busy working on Tail of a Hiro and Star of the Twilight (two stories on dev art, don't ask) Anyway,

**CHARACTERS DON'T BELONG TO ME, SO DON'T BOTHER ASKING!! THE ONLY CHARACTERS THAT I OWN ARE KARA AND TRACE, GOT IT!? GOOD!!**

_Now, back to your regularly scheduled madness ; lol_

--

"How could this have happened…?" Nel sat on the ground, her blade falling from her limp grasp, as she gazed at the pedestal. "Who could've done something like this!?"

The others were just too shocked to respond. Never, not once, had they thought that something like this was even remotely possible. Trace walked up to the pedestal, surveying the damage, Testarossa behind him. "Whatever it was, it didn't originate from this planet," he commented, calmly, shocking Nel and the others out of their trance. "More then likely, those machines that we fought outside were just decoys, meant to hinder us while they achieved their immediate goal." He glanced out of the corner of his eye at Testarossa.

She nodded, staring up at the hole in the ceiling. "Whoever they are, they couldn't have gotten far!" She shouted, leaping up, easily clearing the hole. Floating, she cast her gaze about for several minutes, her eyes latching onto something in the East. "Trace, their flying low to the ground to the east! They most likely want to get some distance before they lift into space! I'll go do what I can while you lead the others there!"

Trace frowned, opening his mouth to comment, but wisely shut it, having learned long ago that when Testarossa said she was gonna do something, she'd do it, come hell or high water. "Let's move people, we can still-" when he turned around, he wasn't the slightest bit surprised to see that everyone else had already left. "Well, you can at least warn me when your gonna leave..." He trudged afterwards, crossing his arms. "Damn, this is such a pain..."

--

"Hurry, we can still catch them!" Maria shouted back, leading the way. Hot on her heels, Nel merely grunted in acknowledgement. Fayt growled looking back at Trace, a fair distance behind.

"Come on Trace, move! Damn, how're we going to catch them, if their in a shuttle?" Fayt growled, his normally gentle eyes betraying his anger.

"-You got it Cliff? Prepare the weapons on the Diplo! As soon as they get in range, knock them down to the ground! We'll handle it from there!" Maria was saying into her communicator, before she misstepped on one of the animated blocks near the entrance, falling flat on her butt. She shook her head and moved to stand, but Nel used her back as a springboard, launching into the air to land a little under a story below on the walkway below.

"We don't have time! Just jump!" Nel growled, heading through the door. Again, before she could stand, Maria was used once again as a springboard by Kara and Fayt.

"I'm sorry, Maria!" Both shouted in unison, shrugging apologetically as they landed, rolling to absorb the shock before getting up and running again.

"Damn it! Don't use me as a lift!" Maria shouted after them, her back aching through her armor.

"Need a lift?" Trace asked, not entirely mockingly, as he swept past her, snatching her up in his arms, the wings that had sprouted around his wand tip propelling them at breakneck speeds, soaring past the others, nearly knocking them over.

"Hey, what gives!?" Maria shouted, once her senses had caught up with her, just outside of the queen's castle.

Trace looked down at her, his shining eyes clearly betraying his excitement. Before Maria could voice another question, Trace started babbling in a different language, one that, for one reason or another, wasn't in her translator's data banks, beyond a few passing words. "...Catch...speed...chicken...soba..." Needless to say, what she was understanding wasn't making much sense to her at all.

"Does it look like there's any frikking restaurants here??" Maria nearly shouted, but a sudden jolt as Trace sped up caused her to nearly bite her tongue in half.

"When your pilot is in flight, please refrain from speaking, Miss Traydor," a voice said, and it took Maria a moment to understand it was the wand speaking.

"Kratz, set piercing round!" Trace shouted, again in the language that Maria couldn't understand as she got dropped off on a tree branch. Trace hovered just a few feet above Maria, 'kneeling' and setting his wand the way a sniper might once he'd spotted his prey. Again, the wand spoke, but Maria could only catch passing words, which didn't really make much sense to her, but as it escalated into a heated debate, she figured out that it was the wand objecting to whatever half cooked plan Trace had devised.

Trace sighted down his weapon's handle, aiming at a point just a few feet above the tree line several dozen miles to the north east, waiting for some signal...

...

...

...

...

The shadows from the sun shifted ever so slightly as the planet rotated on its axis; Trace's wand wavered slightly as the minutes dragged on; and still, there was no sign of whatever sign Trace was waiting for. "What are you doing just wasting time!?" Maria shouted, moving to punch him, but he kept hovering just out of her reach, and since she was too high up to jump, and she couldn't climb, she was effectively stuck.

...

...

...

A slight breeze caused the leaves to shiver, and the edge of some rogue spacecraft that Maria couldn't really make out crested, angling up towards space. Maria barely had time to register the craft before Trace's wand went off, one shot angling out over the miles, reaching out for the heart of the craft...and disappeared just outside of the hull as a shield caught it in the nick of time. For several long, agonizing minutes, the target hovered in the air, as if frozen in space.

And then, it happened-

The shockwave from the blast neatly leveled any form of plant life in the area, destroying some of the smaller nearby mountains, and even blew Trace away, spinning wildly in midair in an effort to regain some semblance of bouyancy, Maria clinging to his legs desperately throughout the wild ride. When she finally looked back at where the craft had been, she found herself staring at a crater miles wide, and even more miles deep. The sheer magnitude of the damage outclassed even what she had witnessed Fayt cause, and he was the bearer of the Destruction gene!

"Piercing Round; Barrier...Burst..." Trace muttered grimly, his eyes starting to close, several stories in midair. "Ugh, releasing the second power limit really was a bad...ide...a..."

Maria was in a state of blind panick, as she felt Trace's flight spell wearing off. "Hey!! Wake up you idiot!! Don't fall asleep!!" She knew it wasn't any good though, when Trace's eyes closed; Immediately, the pair plummeted towards the earth, several stories below, with nothing to catch onto or break their fall. Maria started to black out, though she thought she saw a black shape flying towards them...

--

"Any change in Trace's condition?" Maria asked, sipping some green tea with Cliff Fayt and Kara. It had been three days since the Sacred Orb had been stolen, and they still had no leads where it was. All they knew was that it wasn't on the ship Trace blew up.

"You're oddly concerned about Trace..." Cliff commented, leaning back in his chair. "You never stop checking on him! I heard from the officers at sick bay that you check on him every ten minutes! Why is that?"

Maria shook her head, a bit of a blush showing. "Why shouldn't I be worried? He's been unconscious for a few days. Isn't it normal to worry about your friends?"

The look that Fayt and Kara gave her was plainly doubting.

--

"Can I get a burger?" Trace wondered to the chef, sipping some cola.

"Sure, I guess. What kind you want?" Chef replied, shrugging. He turned back to the grill for a moment to check something, but when he looked back at Trace, he'd already disappeared.

--

"You're finally awake!" Fayt said with a grin, as Cliff brought Trace to their table. "We were worrying about you. What happened?"

"I used up too much power releasing the second power limit," Trace replied simply, sipping some orange juice. He sighed contentedly as Maria and the others stared at him leadingly, waiting for him to continue.

"...And?" Cliff prodded when it became obvious Trace wasn't going to clarify further.

"And what?"

"Tell us more about these limit releases," Kara supplied, looking sidelong at Fayt.

"Oh, well, why would you want to know about something like that?" Trace wondered, sipping his drink. "It's not really something that directly involves you, so there's no real benefit for you to know."

He stretched, casting off the others concerned glances with a reassuring grin. "Look, don't worry about it. It's nothing that serious-"

"Not serious!?" Maria slammed her hands down on the table top, her nails scraping it noisily. "You fainted in midair! You could've died if it wasn't for the fact that Testarossa managed to save us at the last moment! If that's not serious to you..." Maria looked, down, unable to continue, trying to hide the blush that was making its way across her face.

Trace didn't respond, looking away dazedly. "It's none of your concern...is it?" He asked more then stated, clenching and unclenching his hands.

"Look, just tell us what happened! What's so damn hard about that!?" Maria practically shouted, plainly surprising them all; Maria was not particularly known for exploding, after all.

"I wonder if it's too late to get some popcorn," Cliff and Kara wondered idly, sighing. Fayt just shrugged noncommitally. They could all tell it was gonna be a long day.

--

"Damnit, what the hell's the matter with me!?" Maria muttered, punching a wall. The pain brought her back to earth and she sighed, nursing her throbbing hand. Lately, she had been behaving uncharacteristically, that she knew well enough. She'd been getting agitated more and more often, ever since she'd brought Trace aboard. More then that, just the sight of him was enough to set her heart pounding. She sighed before heading out again, to the sick bay for a check up.

She probably just had a cold.

--

"Something's been weird about Maria lately," Cliff commented, looking at Roger Albel and Sophia as they lay in Sophia's room, playing card games(Albel insisted that he was only playing because he was immensely bored) .

"Really? I havn't really noticed anything," Sophia looked up as she played her Premature burial card (yes, I like the game Yu-Gi-Oh!)

"The cheerful maggot never notices anything," Albel snorted, countering it easily. (lol, Albel playing card games XD I hope he's not a sore loser!)

"Why're you playing _girly_ card games Albel! I challenge you to a 'Real Man' contest!" Roger shouted, pulling on Albels hair, before quickly making a break for it, Albel angrily swinging his katana and claw at him, trying to rip him to shreds.

"I don't think anyone else has noticed, but lately Maria's acting weird around Trace. You think that maybe she has feelings for the guy?" Cliff asked Sophia, ignoring Albel choking the life out of Roger.

"Um, uh, I don't know if..." Sophia replied hesitantly, watching Roger worriedly, "that'd mean anything...Albel! Quit killing Roger!!" She finally shouted, yanking hard on both of Albel's antenna, knocking him over from surprise. "KYAAAA!! Don't kill me!!" She shouted, running as Albel chased after _her_ now.

"Saved by a girl," Cliff commented looking down at Roger, who was getting to his feet dizzily.

"Sh-Shut it, you big lummox!" Roger shouted, kicking Cliff in the ankle.

--

"Have you managed to find out anything?" Maria asked Mirage, blushing, watching as Trace sat at a nearby computer searching for any leads. Mirage shook her head, glancing at Maria knowingly out of the corner of her eye.

"Sorry. I havn't found anything out yet Maria. Why don't you ask Trace if he's found anything? I have a feeling that he'd have a better idea of what to look for then I would."

Maria looked at her shocked. "What? Why would you think that?" She kind of knew the answer already though; He and Testarossa had already known about the machines that had attacked the shrine, and he'd also anticipated the movements of the enemy spacecraft, and had shot it down from a distance of well over a hundred miles.

Maria sighed, hesitatingly approaching Trace, before voicing her question.

"Have you found out anything...?" She querried softly, looking away.

"Oh yeah, I've found quite a bit..." Trace replied grimly, looking nearly overwhelmed. Maria looked at him surprised tilting her head to the side, but before she could ask, he added softly.

"It's-"

--

Heehee, evil cliff hanger, I choose you! What has happened?? What is it that has stolen the Sacred Orb? Why am I speaking only in rhetorics?? Oh, and sorry for the OOCness of Maria...I wrote this while listening to melody by Miku Hatsune, so it might be a bit to lovey-dovey.

Anyway, thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it!


	5. Truth and Desire

/dude/ = thoughts

[dude]/["dude"] = electronic voice/ person's voice through electronic medium.

"It's apparent that we are dealing with someone that really knows what he's doing..." Trace finished, eyeing the screen closely. Maria stifled a groan, sighing.

"Are you sure there's nothing else you can get? It's already rather obvious we're going up against professionals," Maria crossed her arms. "Please tell me you got more information."

"I'm familiar with the weapon's design though. Those spherical robots were made in a planet called," He hesitated scratching his chin, "Shenzhin, I think. I'm sorry I can't be more help."

Maria blinked staring into Trace's apologetic eyes. /Wh-What's going on? My heart won't stop pounding, my face is feeling flushed and I'm going weak-kneed.../

"Maria, are you sure you're feeling ok? You don't look so good. Maybe you should get some rest," Trace stood up offering Maria his shoulder. "I can help you to sick bay, if you don't mind."

/B-B-But the medical officer said i was just fine! She didn't detect any viral contamination!/

"Oh, you don't need to worry about that Trace. I can assure you she's not sick at all," Mirage laughed a little smiling.

"I-I'm fine! I'm going to take a walk. Make sure you have some more information before I get back," Maria practically ran out, crashing into Cliff as the door opened.

"H-Hey, are you ok Maria? You don't look so good!" The Klausian reached to help her steady, but Maria stumbled back, running off. "Hey Mirage. What's her deal? She's been acting really weird lately."

"Oh, she's fine. She is still a teenage girl, after all. It's normal for her to have this kind of problem at her age," The Klausian fem stood up with a smile clapping her hands. "Now Trace, we really should get back to work. You can help us out as well Cliff."

"Alright then. If that's how it's supposed to be, I suppose I'm just gonna have to live with it. Oh, speaking of age, you never did say how old you were Trace," Cliff sat at a computer, looking at Trace expectantly.

Trace kept quiet for a few moments before sitting back at the computer he'd been searching on. "I'm fourteen, why do you ask?"

---------

Fayt stared down at his com, unsure what to do. /Fate's gone back to work with the Midchildan government to try and find the Holy Orb. I want to call and talk to her, but she's probably busy. I really shouldn't.../ Fayt sighed, sliding away his com intending to go for a walk. /Living in the Diplo day in and day out is ok, but things tend to get boring really fast. I'm worried about Maria too. She hasn't been herself since Trace showed up./ "I really should go check on her." Fayt nodded, looking down the hallways before heading to the simulator room. "About now, she's usually practicing her gunwork in the simulator."

---------

"What's wrong with me? I'm really not acting like myself," She lay back on the bed in her room, staring at the ceiling. "I need to lead Quark in the search for the Holy Orb, but I just can't stop thinking about..." She left her sentence incomplete, sitting up in an attempt to clear her thoughts. "I need to get back."

["Maria! You've got an emergency! You need to get ready right now!"] Fate's voice rang clearly on her personal communicator, causing Maria to jump in shock.

"What do you mean emergency?" Maria shouted, reaching for and loading her gun.

["Those mecha that you fought on Elicoor II are converging on your location. It doesn't take a genius to know that their planning to attack!"]

"Wait, what!? But the alarm hasn't-"

[Warning. Warning. Warning. Warning. Short range scanner shows several hostiles approaching. All available crew, please prepare for combat.]

["Dang it, it's those things again! Everyone, get ready for some serious brawling!"] Cliff's voice roared out on the intercom, shouting various instructions.

Maria ran out of her door without a second thought, slipping her gun into her holster as she rushed for the helm.

--------

"Dang it! I can't believe they got in so fast!" Trace growled, floating just above the ground, several of the enemy mecha rushing towards him. "To make matters," He twirled his staff, stabbing one of the things in an 'eye', and whacking another away before it could grip him with its tentacles, "Worse, this things have a frikkin'," He dropped to the ground, under a wild bull rush from about four that left them crashing into the walls, two getting pierced through the 'back' before they could recover, "A. M. F! Get the hell off me!" He shouted, struggling against his bonds, three of the robots holding his arms and legs pinned with their tentacles as another pair advanced, slowly.

/This can't be good!/ He struggled and thrashed, trying to bring his staff to bear, but his arms and legs were held tightly in place. "N-No...NO WAY! Tell me you're not planning to do what I think you're planning to do!" He shuddered, the tentacles starting to rub painfully. "HELP!!"

His scream echoed down the hallway, but did little to stop them. /Oh god, just kill me and be done with it./

"Get off of him!"

Right after that familiar bellow, one of the robots suddenly lurched, a certain Klausian having punched some holes in its back. Cliff threw the robot to the side into another, causing both to crack open. "Seriously, what the hell do you think you're doing?"

/He saved me! Oh damn, what am I, some kinda lame anime heroine? There's still three holding me!/ "Get off of me, slimeball!" He struggled against the tentacles tightening grip, grimacing. The sound of several loud crashes, accompanied by insane laughter, alerted him to another newcomer. "This just won't end well, will it?"

--------

"How'd these things get in!?" Maria shouted, running while trying to load her gun. She glanced over her shoulder at a group of those robots that were chasing her and groaned. "If I knew today was gonna happen like this, I wouldn't have even bothered getting out of bed!" She paused in her thoughts and sighed. "Being around Trace really has messed with my normal rhythm..."

She skidded to a stop, barely taking a moment to aim before barely grazing the trigger, a few spheres falling and rolling, but nowhere near enough to save her from being entangled as well. "Oh, this is just great..." She looked around irritated as they approached. "No way this'll end well..." /How idiotic of me...I guess I deserve this...DAMMIT! Why can't I stop thinking about Trace at a time like this? There's no one around I can call on-/ She sighed shaking her head before raising her voice as loud as possible. "Trace! HELP!" She cried, as loud and as long as she could before they began to swarm around her.

-------

"Trace! HELP!"

"That's Maria's voice!" He gripped his staff, looking over his shoulder at Albel and Cliff as they continued to pummel the stubborn 'bots. "I'm going on ahead! I'm leaving guarding the helm to you dudes!"

"Wait! What're you talking about? I havn't heard Maria!" Cliff shouted back, but the press of foes prevented him from following behind.

"Maggot! Focus on the enemy in front of you, or I'll cut you down myself, you fool!" Albel hissed, slicing with abandon.

Cliff bit back a sarcastic comment, just swinging his fists. /Sure hope Trace can handle it himself./

--------

"I knew Trace wouldn't make it..." Maria muttered, barely conscious. /I can't even feel my legs anymore. Am I really going to die? There's so much I wanted to do./ She grimaced in pain, feeling as though her arms and legs were being crushed.

"Maria!!"

She barely had time to register the voice before a claw hand the color of pure darkness, the size of her abdomen, sliced through the 'bots holding her down. "What the hell!?" She hardly registered that the tentacles had loosened their grip before taking off, running for the gun she'd been forced to discard. She turned around to fire just in time to see a wall of what appeared to be blades rip through the robots like paper. "What the hell?" /What kind of monster is this? I've never heard of a monster that fights with blade spells! Is it a magician from Midchilda?/ She edged towards the corner, keeping her gun up. She rushed around the corner, seeing something as dark as night, and didn't hesitate to reach for the trigger.

"GHAAAA!!!! Hold up, it's me! It's me! Don't shoot!"

"Trace?" Maria watched as the 'darkness' parted. "Since when did you have a claw hand and a hand blade?" She wondered, looking over the new weapon. The claw hand was dark, the fingers sharpened into elongated claws. The handblade, on his dominant right hand, was blood red, the same color as the shaft of his wand, and it had a lunar shape imprinted on the blade. "What happened to your staff?"

"This...is my staff," Trace stared at Maria, his face growing more and more red.

"Everything ok?" She asked looking down at herself. It was then that she understood. Her armor had been torn off, and her undershirt was in shreds revealing more of her decolletage then she was really comfortable with, her white skirt had been ripped off, and her tights were in a bad state of disrepair. She didn't even have any gloves on! /No wonder he's staring.../ Maria blushed covering her bosom with her arms. "Pervert..."

Trace shook his head looking away irritably. "Not like I'd be embarrassed by a flat board..."

"What was that!?" Maria shouted, blushing deeply, grabbing her gun. Trace took off running, his claw/blade melting back into his staff. Maria pointed the gun at Trace, but stopped, putting it away. "That pervert..."

--------

"Computer, how many enemies are left?" Cliff groaned, holding his side.

[No more enemies have been detected. However, two unidentified objects are heading in this direction.]

"What? Are they hostile?"

[They do not appear to be hostile. However, caution is recommended.]

Cliff turned and looked around as Trace Kara, Adray and the others returned, except for Maria.

"So, how'd everything go. Did everything go according to plan?"

"Well, yeah! For once, anyway. I've fought harder enemies then this though," Fayt shifted his weight to the side, waving one arm. "Anyone that gets caught by them is a moron."

"They were pretty easy to beat, compared to the creator," Sophia agreed, biting her lip. "But they are still pretty strong."

"Hah! Their no challenge for a REAL man!" Roger proclaimed proudly.

"But weren't you hiding under your helmet when they attacked?" Kara asked him, tilting her head to the side.

"S-Shut up!"

"These things were no challenge for a master, such as myself," Adray boomed, laughing joyfully.

Albel and Nel both shrugged, looking disgruntled. "I find it mildly disturbing that they were able to get inside the ship without any warning. We need to find out more about these weapons, and their creators. We probably won't be as lucky next time," Nel supplied, crossing her arms.

"What's wrong Trace? You seem kinda down," Fayt wondered, noticing that Trace was sitting in a corner by himself, depressed.

"It's nothing..." He tried to force a smile but it just wouldn't stick. "I think I'm coming down with something...I'm heading to sick bay."

"Well, OK. Can you get there by yourself?"

"I'll be fine!!"

"Well then, everyone else should go around and make sure everything's ok. Mirage, take a look through the computers and make sure that they didn't steal any of our data," Cliff decided, nodding to everyone. No one else said anything further, but the same thought was stuck in each person's mind: /How did they get in the ship without even breaking through the hull?/

"Hey, are you guy's ok?" A feminine voice shouted, right behind Cliff.

"W-What the!?" Cliff tried to recover, falling facefirst against a wall.

"Who are you?" Nel shouted, slicing at the newcomer, but a staff, with a shaft as white as newly fallen snow, easily picked off her attacks.

"Hey, hey hey~! Is this really how you treat a friend after she goes all this way to make a visit!" The newcomer, a brunette with white ribbons in her hair, and in clothes of white that matched her staff, sighed, stepping away.

Fate sighed shrugging. "I understand their rash actions, Nanoha. You do look kind of like an evil doer yourself."

"E-Evil doer!?" Nanoha shouted, staring at her companion with tear-filled eyes. "Tell me you don't mean that!"

"I'm just teasing, Nanoha," She grinned ruffling Fayt's hair. "Nice job, you managed to hold off those mechs by yourself."

"ANYWAY!" Nanoha huffed, interrupting Fayt before he could respond. "I'm Nanoha Takamachi, Trace's guardian. Where is he?"

"He just went to the sick bay right now. If you want I could show you there," Fayt supplied, holding out his hand. "I'm Fayt. Fayt Leingod."

--------

In the sick bay, Trace sighed, managing to hold perfectly still as they scanned his body. /I hate doctors.../

"Well, nothing seems to be out of the ordinary. You're probably just feeling exhausted. You should probably head to your room and sleep for the rest of the day." The medic officer glanced at the readings again before nodding. "You should feel just fine tomorrow."

"That's a relief," Trace stumbled to his feet, exiting the room via the east door. "I guess I worried over nothing."

--------

"Trace! You got a visitor!" Fayt shouted, throwing open the west door. Nanoha and Fate peered into the room curiously looking at all the medical equipment.

The Medic officer frowned pushing her glasses up. "I just sent Trace to his room for some much-needed bed rest. You barely missed him."

"Oh, I see. Thanks," Fayt nodded, closing the door. "Well, let's get going." Fayt said, leading the way to the crew quarters.

--------

"Trace, you're getting way too close to Maria!" Lieber whined, glaring. He stood in front of Trace on the third floor, a few feet from the stairwell. "I'm not going to let you take her away from me!"

/What an idiot.../ Trace looked to the side, yawning tiredly as Lieber rambled on about his feelings for Maria. "You might like Maria, but it's beyond clear that she doesn't like you in that sense. You'd be better off giving up before you bring irreversible harm on yourself."

"A-Are you threatening me?" Lieber shouted, shuddering. /This guy's really giving me a serious death glare.../ He shivered slightly, mistaking Trace's tired expression for unrivaled anger and fury. "Don't think I've given up yet!" he shouted over his shoulder, running up to the previous level. /Damn it! First Fayt, now Trace! Will I never get to tell Maria about my undying love?/

/So tired.../ Trace yawned, shuffling downstairs.

--------

"Hey Lieber, have you seen Trace? The medic told me that he was heading to his room," Fayt wondered, staring at Lieber oddly. He was in a corner of the stairwell, breathing hard. His skin was pale, in contrast to his usual slightly tan color."Are you ok?"

Lieber jumped, shivering. "I can't get that death glare out of my head. I really pissed Trace off just now! My days are numbered!"

"Uh, can you break away from your mental trauma long enough to tell us if you saw him or not? We're kind of in a hurry." Lieber pointed down the stairwell, nodding. "Thanks."

"Has Trace really gotten that scary Fate?" Nanoha worried, biting her lip.

"Hmmm, maybe he has," Testarossa teased, looking away with a grin.

"Geeze, I'm gonna have to teach him about proper social etiquette again, aren't I?"

"Um, I'm sorry, I couldn't help over hearing. You said you're his guardian right? Is it ok if I ask how old you are? You don't look past twenty," Fayt wondered, looking at them.

"How rude! I'll have you know I'm only 19!" Nanoha groaned, rubbing her forehead. "Work's making me look old..."

"I'm 19 too ya know," Fate sighed, shrugging. "Boys."

"I'm sorry," Fayt hesitated, another question on his tongue, but shook his head. "Anyway, Trace's room is down here."

--------

"Trace!" Maria called, just outside of her room. She waved to the boy has he started to the descend to the fifth floor, motioning him over. "If it's alright, I'd like to talk to you for a little bit. I'm just wondering about a few things." Trace nodded, following her to the hallway connecting the east and west apartment wings together. "You said earlier that that claw weapon you had was originally your wand/staff, right? What did you mean by that, actually?"

"Oh. My weapon's a Midchildan-specially designed staff. It belongs to a calibre that they usually give only to S rank or higher mages. I'm still only a B-rank though..." He sighed, scratching the side of his head. "Anyway, it's a special weapon, that has three different forms. The claw/blade you saw before is the 2nd form."

"Why don't you use it more often?" Maria wondered, putting a hand on her chin.

"It takes up **alot** of energy to make it shapeshift, so I usually try not to use it unless I have no other choice. That would explain why I'm so tired right now, actually," He rubbed his eyes yawning widely. "There's some spells I can only use when I'm using that form though, so it can be convenient."

--------

"I hope he's ok," Nanoha sighed, thumping herself on the head. "I havn't had a lot of time to be with him lately."

"Can I ask what you work as? Trace mentioned that you both worked for the government, but he didn't say anything specifically," Fayt paused in front of Trace's door, knocking. "Hey, Trace! You've got a guest!" He paused for a second, opening the door. "Huh? He's not here."

"Didn't that person say that he was supposed to be resting?" Nanoha looked around, sighing. "It looks even messier then his old room," she looked around with a sigh, shrugging. Drink cans, empty plates, used clothing, books, magazines, and other paraphernalia adorned the room. "There's not even a visible piece of floor. How can he sleep in this?"

"This is a...room? It looks more like a garbage dump," Fayt groaned, sighing.

Nanoha walked in, picking up cans and things. "That's it, I'm going to have to scold Trace later. He needs to learn to pick up his things!"

"I feel bad for Trace. Nanoha tends to go overboard when she's scolding," Fate whispered to Fayt, grinning a secretive smile. "I don't think he'll forget anytime soon." Testarossa grinned a little, moving to help out. "Can I help?"

"Sure! That should be fun!"

"What did Trace get into?" Fayt sighed before going to help as well.

--------

"There we go! It's good as new!" Nanoha grinned, rubbing some sweat off her forehead. "That didn't take as long as I thought it would!"

"Somehow, we managed to finish in an hour," Fate agreed, nodding. "Anyway, we should try to find Trace again. He needs a severe talking-to."

Fayt looked around for a second before speaking. "Computer, where is Trace Kudou Takamachi?"

[Searching...Trace Kudou Takamachi is currently in Captain Maria's room, on the third floor.]

"Do you know where that is Fayt?" Nanoha wondered, looking at him.

"I sure don't," Fate said with a sigh, shrugging. "Why don't you try asking Fayt?"

"I was asking him!" Nanoha sighed rubbing her forehead. "This is gonna be a long day."

"What else is new?"

--------

"Anyway, I'd better let you go Trace, you look pretty wiped out," Maria sighed, sitting on her bed. Trace stood up, holding his half empty bottle of soda.

"It was really nice talking to you. I'm glad you're ok," He rubbed his eyes yawning. "I really need to get some sleep..."

"Let's talk again another time," Maria stood up as Trace opened the door. "Have a good rest!" As she took a step, her foot caught on the edge of the small table in the center of the room, sending her falling headfirst. She closed her eyes for the expected impact, but Trace managed to catch her, cradling her against him.

"Are you ok?" He asked, before noticing how close their faces were.

Maria opened her mouth to say something as well, but stopped, looking at him. /He's so close...if I moved my head just a little, I could kiss him...wait, what? What's wrong with me?/ "Um, you can let me go now!" Maria pushed Trace away, trying to look irritated and hide the growing redness on her cheeks.

"Oh, sorry! I'll uh, I'll go now!" Trace stumbled out the door, running for the western stairwell as Fayt and company ascended the eastern stairwell.

"Hey, Maria! Have you seen Trace? I want to talk to him!" Nanoha called with a wave.

"W-Who, Trace? What makes you think that Trace was ever here?" Maria frowned, turning to go into the room but slipped on a loose piece of carpet, falling flat on her face. "Ouch..."

"Your sudden clumsiness says otherwise," Fate commented sagely, shaking her head.

/W-What am I? A stereotypical heroine of a romance anime?/ Maria groaned sighing before realizing what she was thinking. "Please tell me I didn't fall in love..."

"Anyway, are you sure Trace isn't here?" Fate sighed, holding her head. "This is taking forever..."

"I think Trace just went back to his room..."

"I see, thanks!" Nanoha nodded, heading back down the stairs.

"This is annoying," Fayt sighed, both of them following behind Nanoha.

--------

/Finally, some shut eye./ Trace curled up on his bed, not bothering to remove his robe as he relaxed, ready to set sail on the vast ocean of slumber.

At least, until someone knocked on his door. "Hey, Trace! Can I talk to you?"

/That voice sounds familiar...come to think of it, why is my room so clean? Wasn't it a mess earlier today?/

"Trace! This is Nanoha! It's time for you to endure a special training session!"

/Oh...oops./

--------

I am sorry, This chapter was extremely random. I tried to go for a more light-hearted chapter this time, but I don't think I managed to pull it off quite right.

I am sorry if I messed up on the portrayal of Nanoha and Fate. It has been a good two years since I last saw Striker S, so I must apologize.

On another note, I hope you enjoyed the fic here!

Anyway, Read and Review, if you have the time.

Nanoha: Awww, it took so long for me to show up! What took so long?

DDD: I was trying to get the timing right...

Fate: What timing?

DDD: ANYWAY!

Fate,Nanoha,Trace,Kara,Maria and Fayt: Thanks for watching!  
Fate: Next mission, evil comes, and strikes with wild fury!  
Nanoha: Will the burning Striker S be able to work with the Diplomats, and counter this evil scourge?  
Trace: Amidst a burning field of fire and death, despair and hope collide!  
Kara: When the youth of cool darkness speaks to her of frozen ice, what will happen?  
Maria: Next time on Forgotten Memories: Mission 6, When Fates collide.  
Fayt: Till next time!


End file.
